Editing Reincarnation (section)

== Religions and philosophies ==

===Buddhism===
{{Main|Rebirth (Buddhism)|Saṃsāra (Buddhism)}}
[[Image:Buddhist Wheel of Life.jpg|upright|thumb|In this 8-meter (25-foot) tall Buddhist relief, made between 1177 and 1249, located at [[Dazu Rock Carvings]], Chongqing, China, [[Mara (demon)|Mara]], Lord of Death and Desire, clutches a Wheel of Reincarnation which outlines the Buddhist cycle of reincarnation. ]]
{{Buddhism|collapsed=1}}

According to various Buddhist scriptures, [[Gautama Buddha]] believed in the existence of an afterlife in another world and in reincarnation,

{{Blockquote|
Since there actually is another world (any world other than the present human one, i.e. different rebirth realms), one who holds the view 'there is no other world' has wrong view...
|Buddha|''[[Majjhima Nikaya]]'' i.402, Apannaka Sutta, translated by Peter Harvey<ref name="Harvey2012p46">{{cite book|author=Peter Harvey|title=An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices|year=2012|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-85942-4|pages=32–33, 38–39, 46–49}}</ref>|source=}}

The Buddha also asserted that karma influences rebirth, and that the cycles of repeated births and deaths are endless.<ref name="Harvey2012p46"/><ref name="Neufeldt1986p123">{{cite book|author=Ronald Wesley Neufeldt |title=Karma and Rebirth: Post Classical Developments | year=1986| publisher=State University of New York Press| isbn=978-0-87395-990-2| pages=123–131}}</ref> Before the birth of Buddha, materialistic school such as [[Charvaka]]<ref>{{cite book|author=Ray Billington|title=Understanding Eastern Philosophy|year=2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-79348-8|page=60}}</ref> posited that death is the end, there is no afterlife, no soul, no rebirth, no karma, and they described death to be a state where a living being is completely annihilated, dissolved.<ref>{{cite book|author= Ray Billington|title=Understanding Eastern Philosophy |year=2002|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-79349-5 |pages=43–44, 58–60 }}</ref> Buddha rejected this theory, adopted the alternative existing theories on rebirth, criticizing the materialistic schools that denied rebirth and karma, states [[Damien Keown]].<ref name=danielkeownucchedavada/> Such beliefs are inappropriate and dangerous, stated Buddha, because such annihilationism views encourage moral irresponsibility and material hedonism;{{Sfn|McClelland|2010|p=21}} he tied moral responsibility to rebirth.<ref name="Harvey2012p46"/><ref name=danielkeownucchedavada>{{cite book|isbn= 978-0-19-860560-7 |title=A Dictionary of Buddhism (Articles titled ucchedavāda, śāśvata-vāda, rebirth) |publisher=Oxford University Press |first=Damien |last=Keown |year=2004 |pages= 80, 162, 225, 255, 315 <!-- |access-date=4 December 2013 -->}}</ref>

The Buddha introduced the concept of ''[[anattā]],'' which asserts that there is no permanent self (soul).<ref name="Kalupahana1975p115">{{cite book|first=David J. |last=Kalupahana |title=Causality: The Central Philosophy of Buddhism |year=1975|publisher=University Press of Hawaii|isbn=978-0-8248-0298-1|pages=115–119}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Peter Harvey|title=An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices|year=2012|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-85942-4|pages=57–62}}</ref><ref name="Leaman2002p23">{{cite book|author= Oliver Leaman|title= Eastern Philosophy: Key Readings |year=2002|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-68919-4 |pages=23–27 }}</ref> Major contemporary Buddhist traditions such as Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions accept the teachings of Buddha. These teachings assert there is rebirth, there is no permanent self and no irreducible [[Atman (Buddhism)|''ātman'']] (soul) moving from life to another and tying these lives together, there is [[anicca|impermanence]], that all compounded things such as living beings are [[Skandha|aggregates]] dissolve at death, but every being reincarnates.<ref>{{cite book|author=Malcolm B. Hamilton|title=The Sociology of Religion: Theoretical and Comparative Perspectives|year= 2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-97626-3|pages=73–80}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last =Raju | first =P. T. | year =1985 | title =Structural Depths of Indian Thought | publisher =State University of New York Press | isbn =978-0-88706-139-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/structuraldepths0000raju| url-access =registration |pages=[https://archive.org/details/structuraldepths0000raju/page/147 147]–151}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|McClelland|2010|p=89}};<br />{{cite book|author=Hugh Nicholson|title=The Spirit of Contradiction in Christianity and Buddhism |year=2016| publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-045534-7|pages=23–25}}</ref> The rebirth cycles continue endlessly, states Buddhism, and it is a source of ''[[Duḥkha|duhkha]]'' (suffering, pain), but this reincarnation and ''duhkha'' cycle can be stopped through nirvana. The ''[[anattā]]'' doctrine of Buddhism is a contrast to Hinduism, the latter asserting that "soul exists, it is involved in rebirth, and it is through this soul that everything is connected".<ref>{{cite book|first=Walpola |last=Rahula|title=What the Buddha Taught|location=London|publisher=Gordon Fraser |year=1990|page=51}}</ref>{{sfn|Trainor|2004|p=58, ''Quote:'' "Buddhism shares with Hinduism the doctrine of Samsara, whereby all beings pass through an unceasing cycle of birth, death and rebirth until they find a means of liberation from the cycle. However, Buddhism differs from Hinduism in rejecting the assertion that every human being possesses a changeless soul which constitutes his or her ultimate identity, and which transmigrates from one incarnation to the next.}}<ref name="buswelllopezp708">{{cite book|author1=Robert E. Buswell Jr.|author2=Donald S. Lopez Jr.|title=The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism|year=2013|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-1-4008-4805-8|pages=708–709}}</ref>

Different traditions within Buddhism have offered different theories on what reincarnates and how reincarnation happens. One theory suggests that it occurs through consciousness (Sanskrit: ''[[vijñāna]]''; Pali: ''samvattanika-viññana'')<ref>([[Majjhima Nikaya|M]].1.256) "Post-Classical Developments in the Concepts of Karma and Rebirth in Theravada Buddhism." by Bruce Matthews. in ''Karma and Rebirth: Post-Classical Developments'' State Univ of New York Press: 1986 {{ISBN|0-87395-990-6}} p. 125</ref><ref>Collins, Steven. ''Selfless persons: imagery and thought in Theravāda Buddhism'' Cambridge University Press, 1990. {{ISBN|0-521-39726-X}} p. 215, [https://books.google.com/books?id=ruJvjdNQVPIC&dq=samvattanika&pg=RA1-PA115 Google Books] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221212163107/https://books.google.com/books?id=ruJvjdNQVPIC&pg=RA1-PA115&lpg=RA1-PA115&dq=samvattanika&source=bl&ots=d_WluqzeuL&sig=SX1Ua5bfFDZJB16eOueopPtVntw&hl=en&ei=bfpFS5WzOs-UtgfU16z7AQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=14&ved=0CD8Q6AEwDQ#v=onepage&q=samvattanika&f=false |date=2022-12-12 }}</ref> or stream of consciousness (Sanskrit: ''[[citta-santāna]]'', ''vijñāna-srotām, or vijñāna-santāna''; Pali: ''viññana-sotam'')<ref>([[Digha Nikaya|D]].3.105) "Post-Classical Developments in the Concepts of Karma and Rebirth in Theravada Buddhism. by Bruce Matthews. in Karma and Rebirth: ''Post-Classical Developments'' State Univ of New York Press: 1986 {{ISBN|0-87395-990-6}} p. 125</ref> upon death, which reincarnates into a new aggregation. This process, states this theory, is similar to the flame of a dying candle lighting up another.{{sfn|Kalupahana|1975|p=83}}<ref>{{cite book|author1=William H. Swatos |author2=Peter Kivisto |title=Encyclopedia of Religion and Society |year=1998|publisher=Rowman Altamira|isbn=978-0-7619-8956-1|page=66}}</ref> The consciousness in the newly born being is neither identical to nor entirely different from that in the deceased but the two form a causal continuum or stream in this Buddhist theory. Transmigration is influenced by a being's past ''[[karma]]'' (Pali: ''kamma'').<ref>His Holiness the Dalai Lama, ''How to Practice: The Way to a Meaningful Life'' (New York: Atria Books, 2002), p. 46</ref><ref>Bruce Matthews in Ronald Wesley Neufeldt, editor, ''Karma and Rebirth: Post Classical Developments.'' SUNY Press, 1986, p. 125. [https://books.google.com/books?id=iaRWtgXjplQC&dq=Bija+Niyama&pg=PA126 Google.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221212163105/https://books.google.com/books?id=iaRWtgXjplQC&pg=PA126&dq=Bija+Niyama&lr=#PPA125,M1 |date=2022-12-12 }}</ref> The root cause of rebirth, states Buddhism, is the abiding of consciousness in ignorance (Sanskrit: ''[[avidya (Buddhism)|avidya]]''; Pali: ''avijja'') about the nature of reality, and when this ignorance is uprooted, rebirth ceases.<ref>Peter Harvey, ''The Selfless Mind.'' Curzon Press 1995, p. 247.</ref>

[[File:Shamon jigoku zôshi.jpg|thumb|A 12th-century Japanese painting showing one of the six Buddhist realms of reincarnation (''rokudō'', 六道)]]
Buddhist traditions also vary in their mechanistic details on rebirth. Most [[Theravada]] Buddhists assert that rebirth is immediate while the [[Tibetan Buddhism|Tibetan]] and most Chinese and Japanese schools hold to the notion of a ''[[bardo]]'' (intermediate state) that can last up to 49 days.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Robert E. Buswell Jr.|author2=Donald S. Lopez Jr.|title=The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism|year=2013|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-1-4008-4805-8|pages=49–50, 708–709}}</ref><ref>The Connected Discourses of the Buddha. A Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya, Bhikkhu Bodhi, Translator. Wisdom Publications. Sutta 44.9</ref> The ''bardo'' rebirth concept of Tibetan Buddhism, originally developed in India but spread to Tibet and other Buddhist countries, and involves 42 peaceful deities, and 58 wrathful deities.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Karma-gliṅ-pa|author2=Chogyam Trungpa|author3=Francesca Fremantle|title=The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Liberation Through Hearing in the Bardo|year=2000|publisher=Shambhala Publications|isbn=978-1-57062-747-7|pages=xi, xvii–xxiii}}</ref> These ideas led to maps on karma and what form of rebirth one takes after death, discussed in texts such as ''[[Bardo Thodol|The Tibetan Book of the Dead]]''.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Karma-gliṅ-pa|author2=Chogyam Trungpa|author3=Francesca Fremantle|title=The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Liberation Through Hearing in the Bardo|year=2000|publisher=Shambhala Publications|isbn=978-1-57062-747-7|pages=4–23}}</ref>{{Sfn|Trainor|2004|pp=210–211}} The major Buddhist traditions accept that the reincarnation of a being depends on the past karma and merit (demerit) accumulated, and that there are six realms of existence in which the rebirth may occur after each death.{{sfn|Trainor|2004|pp=62–63}}{{Sfn|Keown|2013|pp=35–40}}<ref name="Merv Fowler 1999 65"/>

Within Japanese [[Zen]], reincarnation is accepted by some, but rejected by others. A distinction can be drawn between 'folk Zen', as in the Zen practiced by devotional lay people, and 'philosophical Zen'. Folk Zen generally accepts the various supernatural elements of Buddhism such as rebirth. Philosophical Zen, however, places more emphasis on the present moment.{{Sfn|McClelland|2010|p=281}}<ref name=warner>{{citation|last=Warner|first=Brad|title=Hardcore Zen|isbn= 978-0-86171-989-1|publisher=Wisdom Publications|year=2005|page=155}}</ref>

Some schools conclude that [[karma]] continues to exist and adhere to the person until it works out its consequences. For the [[Sautrantika]] school, each act "perfumes" the individual or "plants a seed" that later germinates. Tibetan Buddhism stresses the state of mind at the time of death. To die with a peaceful mind will stimulate a virtuous seed and a fortunate rebirth; a disturbed mind will stimulate a non-virtuous seed and an unfortunate rebirth.<ref>''Transform Your Life'': A Blissful Journey, p. 52), [[Tharpa Publications]] (2001, US ed. 2007) {{ISBN|978-0-9789067-4-0}}</ref>

===Christianity===
In a survey by the [[Pew Forum]] in 2009, 22% of American Christians expressed a belief in reincarnation,<ref>{{cite web |author=ANALYSIS |url=http://pewforum.org/Other-Beliefs-and-Practices/Many-Americans-Mix-Multiple-Faiths.aspx |title=Pewforum.org |publisher=Pewforum.org |date=9 December 2009 |access-date=6 December 2011 |archive-date=10 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111210074029/http://pewforum.org/Other-Beliefs-and-Practices/Many-Americans-Mix-Multiple-Faiths.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref> and in a 1981 survey 31% of regular churchgoing European Catholics expressed a belief in reincarnation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spirituale-wholeness.org/faqs/reinceur/reineuro.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010425113340/http://spiritual-wholeness.org/faqs/reinceur/reineuro.htm |archive-date=25 April 2001 |title=Spiritual-wholeness.org |publisher=Spiritual-wholeness.org |access-date=6 December 2011 }}</ref>

Some Christian theologians interpret certain Biblical passages as referring to reincarnation. These passages include the questioning of Jesus as to whether he is [[Elijah]], [[John the Baptist]], [[Jeremiah]], or another prophet ([[Matthew 16]]:13–15 and [[John 1]]:21–22) and, less clearly (while Elijah was said not to have died, but to have been taken up to heaven), John the Baptist being asked if he is not Elijah (John 1:25).<ref>Rudolf Frieling, ''Christianity and Reincarnation'', Floris Books 2015</ref><ref>Mark Albrecht, ''Reincarnation, a Christian Appraisal'', InterVarsity Press, 1982</ref><ref>Lynn A. De Silva, ''Reincarnation in Buddhist and Christian Thought'', Christian Literature Society of Ceylon, 1968</ref> [[Geddes MacGregor]], an Episcopalian priest and professor of philosophy, has made a case for the compatibility of Christian doctrine and reincarnation.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cranston |first=Sylvia |title=Reincarnation in Christianity: A New Vision of the Role of Rebirth in Christian Thought (Quest Books) (9780835605014): Geddes MacGregor: Books |isbn=0-8356-0501-9|year=1990 |publisher=Quest Books }}</ref> The [[Catholic Church]] and theologians such as [[Norman Geisler]] argue that reincarnation is unorthodox and reject the reincarnationist interpretation of texts about John the Baptist and biblical texts used to defend this belief.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Part One Section Two I. The Creeds Chapter Three I Believe In The Holy Spirit Article 11 I Believe In The Resurrection Of The Body II. Dying In Christ Jesus |url=https://www.vatican.va/content/catechism/en/part_one/section_two/chapter_three/article_11/ii_dying_in_christ_jesus.html |access-date=2024-05-13 |website=www.vatican.va}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last1=Geisler |first1=Norman L. |title=The reincarnation sensation |last2=Amano |first2=J. Yutaka |date=1986 |publisher=Tyndale House Publishers |isbn=978-0-8423-5404-2 |location=Wheaton, Ill}}</ref> Infact, Elijah is clearly used as a [[metaphor]] for John the Baptist in {{bibleref2|Matthew|11,14|NKJV}} ("For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. 14 And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come.").<ref>{{cite web|author=Cardinal [[Gianfranco Ravasi]]|url=https://www.famigliacristiana.it/blogpost/la-reincarnazione-nella-bibbia.aspx|title=La reincarnazione nella Bibbia|language=it|trans-title=The reincarnation in the Bible?|website=[[Famiglia Cristiana]]|access-date=October 23, 2024|date=April 25, 2024}} Quote: "Elijah's death had been described as an assumption into heaven for perfect and eternal fellowship with the Lord (2 Kings 2:11-13). Thus had arisen the conviction that the prophet, living forever with God after his ascension to heaven, would be the divine messenger destined to announce to the world the coming of the Messiah: in the Judaism of the 3rd-2nd centuries B.C.E. it was above all an apocrypha (i.e., a text that was neither 'canonical' nor “inspired”), the Book of Enoch, that introduced this hope, which remained ever alive acquiring various forms and applications."</ref>

====Early====
There is evidence<ref>''The Big Book of Reincarnation'', by Roy Stemman, p. 14</ref><ref name="autogenerated1"/> that [[Origen]], a [[Church father]] in early Christian times, taught reincarnation in his lifetime but that when his works were translated into Latin these references were concealed. One of the epistles written by [[St. Jerome]], "To Avitus" (Letter 124; Ad Avitum. Epistula CXXIV),<ref name="mlat.uzh.ch">{{Cite web|url=https://mlat.uzh.ch/browser?path=MLS/text.php|title=Corpus Corporum|website=mlat.uzh.ch}}</ref> which asserts that Origen's ''[[On the First Principles]]'' (Latin: ''De Principiis''; Greek: Περὶ Ἀρχῶν)<ref name="Cross">Cross, F. L., and Elizabeth A. Livingstone. ''The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church'' (Second Edition). New York: Oxford University Press, 1984. p. 1009.</ref> was mistranscribed:

{{Blockquote| About ten years ago that saintly man [[Saint Pammachius|Pammachius]] sent me a copy of a certain person's [ [[Tyrannius Rufinus|Rufinus]]'s<ref name="mlat.uzh.ch"/> ] rendering, or rather misrendering, of Origen's ''First Principles''; with a request that in a Latin version I should give the true sense of the Greek and should set down the writer's words for good or for evil without bias in either direction. When I did as he wished and sent him the book, he was shocked to read it and locked it up in his desk lest being circulated it might wound the souls of many.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3001124.htm|title=Church Fathers: Letter 124 (Jerome)|website=www.newadvent.org}}</ref>}}

Under the impression that Origen was a heretic like [[Arius]], St. Jerome criticizes ideas described in ''On the First Principles''. Further in "To Avitus" (Letter 124), St. Jerome writes about "convincing proof" that Origen teaches reincarnation in the original version of the book:

{{Blockquote|The following passage is a convincing proof that he holds the transmigration of the souls and annihilation of bodies. 'If it can be shown that an incorporeal and reasonable being has life in itself independently of the body and that it is worse off in the body than out of it; then beyond a doubt bodies are only of secondary importance and arise from time to time to meet the varying conditions of reasonable creatures. Those who require bodies are clothed with them, and contrariwise, when fallen souls have lifted themselves up to better things, their bodies are once more annihilated. They are thus ever vanishing and ever reappearing.'<ref name=autogenerated1 />}}

The original text of ''On First Principles'' has almost completely disappeared. It remains extant as ''De Principiis'' in fragments faithfully translated into Latin by St. Jerome and in "the not very reliable Latin translation of [[Tyrannius Rufinus|Rufinus]]."<ref name=Cross />

However, Origen's supposed belief in reincarnation is controversial. Christian scholar [[Dan Schlesinger|Dan R. Schlesinger]] has written an extensive monograph in which he argues that Origen never taught reincarnation.<ref>{{Cite thesis |title=Did Origen teach reincarnation? a response to neo-Gnostic theories of Christian reincarnation with particular reference to Origen and to the Second Council of Constantinople (553) |url=https://eleanor.lib.gla.ac.uk/record=b3269054 |publisher=University of Glasgow |date=2016 |place=Glasgow |first=Dan R. |last=Schlesinger}}</ref>

Reincarnation was taught by several gnostics such as [[Marcion of Sinope]].<ref name="Bjorling 2013 p. 96">{{cite book | last=Bjorling | first=J. | title=Reincarnation: A Bibliography | publisher=Taylor & Francis | series=Sects and Cults in America | year=2013 | isbn=978-1-136-51133-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mdeAAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA96 | language=de | access-date=2023-06-27 | page=96}}</ref> Belief in reincarnation was rejected by several church fathers, including [[Augustine of Hippo]] in [[The City of God]].<ref>{{cite book | author = Augustine of Hippo |translator=Marcus Dods |translator-link=Marcus Dods (theologian born 1834) | url = https://archive.org/details/cityofgodtransla01auguuoft | title =The Works of Aurelius Augustine, Bishop of Hippo |volume=I: The city of God | via = [[Internet Archive]] | location = Edinburgh |publisher=T. & T. Clark | year = 1913 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/cityofgodtransla01auguuoft/page/508 508]–509 | archive-url = https://archive.today/20181225012037/https://archive.org/stream/cityofgodtransla01auguuoft/cityofgodtransla01auguuoft_djvu.txt | archive-date = 25 December 2018 | url-status = live | access-date = 25 December 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Reincarnation - Did The Church Suppress It? |url=https://www.issuesetcarchive.org/issues_site/resource/archives/gudel.htm |access-date=2024-05-13 |website=www.issuesetcarchive.org}}</ref><ref name=":5" />

====Roman Catholic Church====
Citing {{bibleref2|Hebrews|9,27|NKJV}} ("27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation."), the [[Catechism of the Catholic Church]] completely rejects any doctrine of reincarnation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usccb.org/sites/default/files/flipbooks/catechism/266/|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church|quote=There is no "reincarnation" after death|publisher=[[United States Conference of Catholic Bishops]]|page=264}} (n°. 1913).</ref>

===Druze===
{{Druze|collapsed=1}}
{{See also|Druze#Beliefs}}
Reincarnation is a paramount tenet in the [[Druze]] faith.<ref>Seabrook, W. B., ''Adventures in Arabia'', Harrap and Sons 1928, (chapters on Druze religion)</ref> There is an eternal [[dualism (philosophy of mind)|duality]] of the body and the soul and it is impossible for the soul to exist without the body. Therefore, reincarnations occur instantly at one's death. While in the Hindu and Buddhist belief system a soul can be transmitted to any living creature, in the Druze belief system this is not possible and a human soul will only transfer to a human body. Furthermore, souls cannot be divided into different or separate parts and the number of souls existing is finite.<ref name=Dwairy2006>{{cite journal |last1=Dwairy |first1=Marwan |title=The Psychosocial Function Of Reincarnation Among Druze In Israel |journal=Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry |date=March 2006 |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=29–53 |doi=10.1007/s11013-006-9007-1 |pmid=16721673 |s2cid=9132055 }}</ref>

Few Druzes are able to recall their past but, if they are able to they are called a ''Nateq''. Typically souls who have died violent deaths in their previous incarnation will be able to recall memories. Since death is seen as a quick transient state, mourning is discouraged.<ref name=Dwairy2006/> Unlike other Abrahamic faiths, heaven and hell are spiritual. Heaven is the ultimate happiness received when soul escapes the cycle of rebirths and reunites with the Creator, while hell is conceptualized as the bitterness of being unable to reunite with the Creator and escape from the cycle of rebirth.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lewis |first=James |title=The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religions |publisher=Prometheus Books |year=2002 |isbn=1-61592-738-7}}</ref>

===Hinduism===
{{Further|Punarjanman|Saṃsāra|Karma|Moksha}}
[[Image:Reincarnation2.jpg|thumb|right|Hindus believe the self or soul ([[Atman (Hinduism)|atman]]) repeatedly takes on a physical body, until [[moksha]].]]
{{Hinduism|collapsed=1}}
Hindu traditions assert that the body dies, but not the soul, which they believe to be eternal, indestructible, and blissful.{{Sfn|Juergensmeyer|Roof|2011|p=272}} Everything and all existence is believed to be connected and cyclical in many Hinduism-sects, all living beings composed of two things, the soul and the body or matter.<ref>{{cite book |first=Jeaneane D. |last=Fowler |title=Hinduism: Practices and Beliefs |date=1997 |publisher=Sussex Academic Press |isbn= |page=10}}</ref> In Hindu belief, [[Ātman (Hinduism)|Ātman]] does not change and cannot change by its innate nature.{{Sfn|Fowler|1997|p=10}} Current [[Karma]] impacts the future circumstances in this life, as well as the future forms and realms of lives.<ref>Christopher Chapple (1986), ''Karma and creativity'', State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|0-88706-251-2}}, pp. 60–64</ref> Good intent and actions lead to good future, bad intent and actions lead to bad future, impacting how one reincarnates.{{Sfn|Fowler|1997|p=11}}

There is no permanent heaven or hell in most Hinduism-sects.<ref name="JuliusLipner263">{{cite book|author=Julius Lipner|author-link=Julius Lipner|title=Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices|year=2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-24061-5|pages=263–265}}</ref> In the afterlife, based on one's karma, the soul is reborn as another being in heaven, hell, or a living being on earth (human, animal).<ref name="JuliusLipner263"/> Gods, too, die once their past karmic merit runs out, as do those in hell, and they return getting another chance on earth. This reincarnation continues, endlessly in cycles, until one embarks on a spiritual pursuit, realizes self-knowledge, and thereby gains ''[[Moksha|mokṣa]]'', the final release out of the reincarnation cycles.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jacobsen |first1=Knut |title=Three Functions of Hell in the Hindu Traditions |journal=Numen |date=2009 |volume=56 |issue=2–3 |pages=385–400 |doi=10.1163/156852709X405071 |jstor=27793797 }}</ref> This release is believed to be a state of utter bliss, which Hindu traditions believe is either related or identical to [[Brahman]], the unchanging reality that existed before the creation of universe, continues to exist, and shall exist after the universe ends.<ref>{{cite book|author=Julius Lipner|author-link=Julius Lipner|title=Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices|year=2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-24061-5|pages=251–252, 283, 366–369}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Roy W. Perrett |title=Hindu Ethics: A Philosophical Study |year=1998|publisher=University of Hawaii Press |isbn=978-0-8248-2085-5 |pages=53–54}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Bruce M. Sullivan |title=The A to Z of Hinduism  |year=2001|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-8108-4070-6 |page=137 }}</ref>

The [[Upanishads]], part of the scriptures of the Hindu traditions, primarily focus on the liberation from reincarnation.{{Sfn|Fowler|1997|pp=111-112}}<ref>{{cite book|author1=Yong Choon Kim|author2=David H. Freeman|title=Oriental Thought: An Introduction to the Philosophical and Religious Thought of Asia|year=1981|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0-8226-0365-8|pages=15–17}}</ref> The [[Bhagavad Gita]] discusses various paths to liberation.{{Sfn|Juergensmeyer|Roof|2011|p=272}} The Upanishads, states Harold Coward, offer a "very optimistic view regarding the perfectibility of human nature", and the goal of human effort in these texts is a continuous journey to self-perfection and self-knowledge so as to end ''Saṃsāra''—the endless cycle of rebirth and redeath.<ref>{{cite book |first=Harold |last=Coward |year=2008 |title=The Perfectibility of Human Nature in Eastern and Western Thought: The Central Story|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LkE_8uch5P0C |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-7914-7336-8 |page=129}}</ref> The aim of spiritual quest in the Upanishadic traditions is find the true self within and to know one's soul, a state that they assert leads to blissful state of freedom, moksha.{{Sfn|Coward|2008|p=129, also see pages 130–155}}

The [[Bhagavad Gita]] states:
{{bquote|
Just as in the body childhood, adulthood and old age happen to an embodied being. So also he (the embodied being) acquires another body. The wise one is not deluded about this. (2:13)<ref>{{cite book |first=Christopher Key |last=Chapple |date=2010 |title=The Bhagavad Gita: Twenty-fifth–Anniversary Edition |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-1-4384-2842-0 |page=98}}</ref>

As, after casting away worn out garments, a man later takes new ones. So after casting away worn out bodies, the embodied Self encounters other new ones. (2:22){{Sfn|Chapple|2010|p=107}}

When an embodied being transcends, these three qualities which are the source of the body, Released from birth, death, old age and pain, he attains immortality. (14:20){{Sfn|Chapple|2010|p=582}}
|author=|title=|source=}}

There are internal differences within Hindu traditions on reincarnation and the state of [[moksha]]. For example, the dualistic devotional traditions such as [[Madhvacharya]]'s Dvaita Vedanta tradition of Hinduism champion a theistic premise, assert that human soul and Brahman are different, loving devotion to Brahman (god Vishnu in Madhvacharya's theology) is the means to release from Samsara, it is the grace of God which leads to moksha, and spiritual liberation is achievable only in after-life (''[[videhamukti]]'').<ref>{{cite book|first=Jeaneane D. |last=Fowler |title=Perspectives of Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Hinduism|year=2002|publisher=Sussex Academic Press|isbn=978-1-898723-93-6|pages=340–347, 373–375}}</ref> The non-dualistic traditions such as [[Adi Shankara]]'s [[Advaita Vedanta]] tradition of Hinduism champion a monistic premise, asserting that the individual human soul and Brahman are identical, only ignorance, impulsiveness and inertia leads to suffering through Saṃsāra, in reality there are no dualities, meditation and self-knowledge is the path to liberation, the realization that one's soul is identical to Brahman is moksha, and spiritual liberation is achievable in this life (''[[Jivanmukta|jivanmukti]]'').<ref name=Loy1982>{{cite journal |last1=Loy |first1=David |title=Enlightenment in Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta: Are Nirvana and Moksha the Same? |journal=International Philosophical Quarterly |date=1982 |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=65–74 |doi=10.5840/ipq19822217 }}</ref>{{sfn|Fowler|2002|pp=238–240, 243–245, 249–250, 261–263, 279–284}}

Twentieth-century Indian philosopher Sri Aurobindo said that rebirth was the mechanism of [[evolution]] – plants are reborn as animals, which are reborn as humans, gaining intelligence each time.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Aurobindo |first=Sri |title=The Problem of Rebirth |date=1915–1921 |publisher=Sri Aurobindo Ashram |location=Pondicherry, India |publication-date=1952 |pages=3-119, 178-9}}</ref> He said that this progression was irreversible, and that a human cannot be reborn as an animal.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Aurobindo |first=Sri |title=The Life Divine |date=1914–1919 |publisher=Sri Aurobindo Ashram |edition=5th |location=Pondicherry, India |publication-date=1970 |pages=742–823}}</ref>
===Islam===
Most Islamic schools of thought reject any idea of reincarnation of living beings.<ref name="SmithHaddad2002p24"/>{{Sfn|McClelland|2010|pp=122–123}}<ref>{{cite book|author=John L. Esposito |title=The Oxford Dictionary of Islam  |year=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-975726-8 |pages=137, 249 }}</ref> It teaches a linear concept of life, wherein a human being has only one life and upon death he or she is judged by [[God in Islam|God]], then rewarded in heaven or punished in hell.<ref name="SmithHaddad2002p24"/><ref>{{cite book|author1=Norman L. Geisler |author2=Abdul Saleeb |title=Answering Islam: The Crescent in Light of the Cross |year=2002|publisher=Baker Academic |isbn=978-0-8010-6430-2 |page=109}}</ref> Islam teaches final resurrection and Judgement Day,{{Sfn|McClelland|2010|pp=122–123}} but there is no prospect for the reincarnation of a human being into a different body or being.<ref name="SmithHaddad2002p24">{{cite book|author1=Jane Idelman Smith|author2=Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad |title=The Islamic Understanding of Death and Resurrection |year=2002|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-028880-8 |pages=23–24 }}</ref> During the early history of Islam, some of the [[Caliphate|Caliphs]] persecuted all reincarnation-believing people, such as [[Manichaeism]], to the point of extinction in Mesopotamia and Persia (modern day Iraq and Iran).{{Sfn|McClelland|2010|pp=122–123}} However, some Muslim minority sects such as those found among [[Sufism|Sufis]], and some Muslims in [[South Asia]] and [[Indonesia]] have retained their pre-Islamic Hindu and Buddhist beliefs in reincarnation.{{Sfn|McClelland|2010|pp=122–123}} For instance, historically, South Asian Isma'ilis performed chantas yearly, one of which is for seeking forgiveness of sins committed in past lives.<ref>[http://www.gnosticliberationfront.com/sufi_message_of_hazrat_inayat%20khan.htm Gnostic liberation front] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081217021533/http://www.gnosticliberationfront.com/sufi_message_of_hazrat_inayat%20khan.htm |date=17 December 2008 }} The Sufi Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan</ref>

====Ghulat sects====
The idea of reincarnation is accepted by a few heterodox sects, particularly of the [[Ghulat]].<ref>Wilson, Peter Lamborn, ''Scandal: Essays in Islamic Heresy'', Brooklyn, NY: Autonomedia. (1988). {{ISBN|0-936756-13-6}} hardcover 0-936756-12-2 paperback</ref> [[Alawites]] hold that they were originally stars or divine lights that were cast out of heaven through disobedience and must undergo repeated reincarnation (or [[metempsychosis]]) before returning to heaven.<ref name= Peters>{{Cite book| last1 = Peters | first1 = Francis E. | author-link = Francis E. Peters | last2 = Esposito | first2 = John L. | author2-link = John L. Esposito | title = The children of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, Islam | publisher = Princeton University Press | year = 2006| isbn = 978-0-691-12769-9}}</ref> They can be reincarnated as Christians or others through sin and as animals if they become infidels.<ref name=cs>[http://countrystudies.us/syria/32.htm Alawis] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304203947/http://countrystudies.us/syria/32.htm |date=2016-03-04 }}, Countrystudies.us, U.S. Library of Congress.</ref>

===Jainism===
{{Further|Saṃsāra (Jainism)|Karma in Jainism}}
[[File:Seven Jain Hells.jpg|thumb|right|200px|17th-century cloth painting depicting seven levels of [[Naraka (Jainism)|Jain hell]] according to [[Jain cosmology]]. Left panel depicts the demi-god and his animal vehicle presiding over each hell.]]
{{Jainism|collapsed=1}}
In [[Jainism]], the reincarnation doctrine, along with its theories of ''Saṃsāra'' and Karma, are central to its theological foundations, as evidenced by the extensive literature on it in the major sects of Jainism, and their pioneering ideas on these topics from the earliest times of the Jaina tradition.{{Sfn|Jaini|1980|pp=217–236}}<ref name=dundasp14/> Reincarnation in contemporary Jainism traditions is the belief that the worldly life is characterized by continuous rebirths and suffering in various realms of existence.{{Sfn|Jaini|1980|pp=226–228}}<ref name="dundasp14"/><ref name="Sethia2004p31">{{cite book|author=Tara Sethia |title=Ahimsā, Anekānta, and Jainism  |year=2004|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-2036-4|pages=30–31}}</ref>

Karma forms a central and fundamental part of Jain faith, being intricately connected to other of its philosophical concepts like transmigration, reincarnation, liberation, non-violence (''[[Ahimsa in Jainism|ahiṃsā]]'') and non-attachment, among others. Actions are seen to have consequences: some immediate, some delayed, even into future incarnations. So the doctrine of karma is not considered simply in relation to one life-time, but also in relation to both future incarnations and past lives.<ref>Kuhn, Hermann (2001) pp. 226–230</ref> ''[[Uttarâdhyayana Sûtra|Uttarādhyayana Sūtra]]'' 3.3–4 states: "The ''jīva'' or the soul is sometimes born in [[devaloka|the world of gods]], sometimes in [[Naraka (Jainism)|hell]]. Sometimes it acquires the body of a [[asura|demon]]; all this happens on account of its karma. This ''jīva'' sometimes takes birth as a worm, as an insect or as an ant."<ref name=krishan43>Krishan, Yuvraj (1997): p. 43.</ref> The text further states (32.7): "Karma is the root of birth and death. The souls bound by karma go round and round in the cycle of existence."<ref name=krishan43 />

Actions and emotions in the current lifetime affect future incarnations depending on the nature of the particular karma. For example, a good and virtuous life indicates a latent desire to experience good and virtuous themes of life. Therefore, such a person attracts karma that ensures that their future births will allow them to experience and manifest their virtues and good feelings unhindered.<ref>Kuhn, Hermann (2001) pp. 70–71</ref> In this case, they may take birth in heaven or in a prosperous and virtuous human family. On the other hand, a person who has indulged in immoral deeds, or with a cruel disposition, indicates a latent desire to experience cruel themes of life.<ref name=Kuhn64>Kuhn, Hermann (2001) pp. 64–66</ref> As a natural consequence, they will attract karma which will ensure that they are reincarnated in hell, or in lower life forms, to enable their soul to experience the cruel themes of life.<ref name=Kuhn64/>

There is no retribution, judgment or reward involved but a natural consequences of the choices in life made either knowingly or unknowingly. Hence, whatever suffering or pleasure that a soul may be experiencing in its present life is on account of choices that it has made in the past.<ref>Kuhn, Hermann (2001) p. 15</ref> As a result of this doctrine, Jainism attributes supreme importance to pure thinking and moral behavior.<ref>Rankin, Aidan (2006) p. 67</ref>

The Jain texts postulate four ''gatis'', that is states-of-existence or birth-categories, within which the soul transmigrates. The four ''gatis'' are: ''[[Deva (Jainism)|deva]]'' (demigods), ''[[Manusya-gati|manuṣya]]'' (humans), ''[[Naraka (Jainism)|nāraki]]'' (hell beings), and ''tiryañca'' (animals, plants, and microorganisms).<ref name=Jaini108>Jaini, Padmanabh (1998) p. 108</ref> The four ''gatis'' have four corresponding realms or habitation levels in the vertically tiered [[Jain cosmology#Jain geography|Jain universe]]: ''deva'' occupy the higher levels where the heavens are situated; ''manuṣya'' and ''tiryañca'' occupy the middle levels; and ''nāraki'' occupy the lower levels where seven hells are situated.<ref name=Jaini108/>

Single-sensed souls, however, called ''[[nigoda]]'',<ref>The Jain hierarchy of life classifies living beings on the basis of the senses: five-sensed beings like humans and animals are at the top, and single sensed beings like microbes and plants are at the bottom.</ref> and element-bodied souls pervade all tiers of this universe. ''Nigodas'' are souls at the bottom end of the existential hierarchy. They are so tiny and undifferentiated, that they lack even individual bodies, living in colonies. According to Jain texts, this infinity of ''nigodas'' can also be found in plant tissues, root vegetables and animal bodies.<ref>Jaini, Padmanabh (1998) pp. 108–109</ref> Depending on its karma, a soul transmigrates and reincarnates within the scope of this cosmology of destinies. The four main destinies are further divided into sub-categories and still smaller sub-sub-categories. In all, Jain texts speak of a cycle of 8.4 million birth destinies in which souls find themselves again and again as they cycle within ''[[Samsara (Jainism)|samsara]]''.<ref>Jaini, Padmanabh (2000) p. 130</ref>

In Jainism, God has no role to play in an individual's destiny; one's personal destiny is not seen as a consequence of any system of reward or punishment, but rather as a result of its own personal karma. A text from a volume of the ancient Jain canon, ''[[Vyakhyaprajnapti|Bhagvati sūtra]]'' 8.9.9, links specific states of existence to specific karmas. Violent deeds, killing of creatures having five sense organs, eating fish, and so on, lead to rebirth in hell. Deception, fraud and falsehood lead to rebirth in the animal and vegetable world. Kindness, compassion and humble character result in human birth; while austerities and the making and keeping of vows lead to rebirth in heaven.<ref>Krishan, Yuvraj (1997) p. 44</ref>

Each soul is thus responsible for its own predicament, as well as its own salvation. Accumulated karma represent a sum total of all unfulfilled desires, attachments and aspirations of a soul.<ref name=Kuhn28>Kuhn, Hermann (2001) p. 28</ref><ref>Kuhn, Hermann (2001) p. 69</ref> It enables the soul to experience the various themes of the lives that it desires to experience.<ref name=Kuhn28 /> Hence a soul may transmigrate from one life form to another for countless of years, taking with it the karma that it has earned, until it finds conditions that bring about the required fruits. In certain philosophies, heavens and hells are often viewed as places for eternal salvation or eternal damnation for good and bad deeds. But according to Jainism, such places, including the earth are simply the places which allow the soul to experience its unfulfilled karma.<ref>Kuhn, Hermann (2001) pp. 65–66, 70–71</ref>

===Judaism===
{{See also|Gilgul}}
{{Kabbalah||collapsed=1}}
The doctrine of reincarnation has had a complex evolution within Judaism. Initially alien to Jewish tradition, it began to emerge in the 8th century, possibly influenced by Muslim mystics, gaining acceptance among [[Karaite Judaism|Karaites]] and Jewish dissenters.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Jacobs |first=Louis |title=The Jewish religion: a companion |date=1995 |publisher=Oxford Univ. Press |isbn=978-0-19-826463-7 |location=Oxford Berlin |pages=417–418}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Fine |first=Lawrence |title=Physician of the soul, healer of the cosmos: Isaac Luria and his kabbalistic fellowship |date=2003 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-3825-5 |series=Stanford studies in Jewish history & culture |location=Stanford, Calif |pages=304}}</ref> It was first mentioned in Jewish literature by [[Saadia Gaon]], who criticized it.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Transmigration of souls  |url=https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/14479-transmigration-of-souls |access-date=2024-01-27 |website=JewishEncyclopedia.com |first1=Kaufmann  |last1=Kohler |first2=Isaac  |last2=Broydé }}</ref><ref name=":1" /> However, it remained a minority belief, facing little resistance until the spread of Kabbalah in the 12th century. The "[[Bahir|Book of Clarity]]" (Sefer ha-Bahir) of this period introduced concepts such as the transmigration of souls, strengthening the foundation of Kabbalah with mystical symbolism.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-01-02 |title=Kabbala {{!}} Definition, Beliefs, & Facts  |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Kabbala |access-date=2024-01-27 |website=Britannica |language=en}}</ref> Kabbalah also teaches that "The soul of Moses is reincarnated in every generation."<ref>Tikunei Zohar, Tikkun 69, 112a and 114a. Literally, "There is an extension of Moses in every generation and to each and every righteous man."</ref> This teaching found more significant ground in Kabbalistic circles in Provence and Spain.<ref name=":2" />

Despite not being widely accepted in [[Orthodox Judaism]], the doctrine of reincarnation attracted some modern Jews involved in mysticism.<ref name=":1" /> [[Hasidic Judaism]] and followers of [[Kabbalah]] remained firm in their belief in the transmigration of souls. Other branches of Judaism, such as [[Reform Judaism|Reform]] and [[Conservative Judaism|Conservative]], do not teach it.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Gale Encyclopedia of the Unusual and Unexplained: 001 |date=2003 |isbn=978-0-7876-5383-5 |location=Detroit |pages=48 |last1=Steiger |first1=Brad |last2=Steiger |first2=Sherry Hansen }}</ref>

The 16th century mystical renaissance in communal [[Safed]] replaced scholastic [[Jewish philosophy|Rationalism]] as mainstream traditional Jewish theology, both in scholarly circles and in the popular imagination. References to ''gilgul'' in former Kabbalah became systematized as part of the metaphysical purpose of creation. [[Isaac Luria]] (the Ari) brought the issue to the centre of his new mystical articulation, for the first time, and advocated identification of the reincarnations of historic Jewish figures that were compiled by [[Haim Vital]] in his [[Shaar HaGilgulim]].<ref>''Sha'ar Ha'Gilgulim, The Gate of Reincarnations'', Chaim Vital</ref> ''Gilgul'' is contrasted with the other processes in Kabbalah of [[Ibbur]] ('pregnancy'), the attachment of a second soul to an individual for (or by) good means, and [[Dybuk]] ('possession'), the attachment of a spirit, demon, etc. to an individual for (or by) "bad" means.

In [[Lurianic Kabbalah]], reincarnation is not retributive or fatalistic, but an expression of Divine compassion, the microcosm of the doctrine of cosmic rectification of creation. ''Gilgul'' is a heavenly agreement with the individual soul, conditional upon circumstances. Luria's radical system focused on [[Tohu and Tikkun|rectification]] of the Divine soul, played out through Creation. The true essence of anything is the divine spark within that gives it existence. Even a stone or leaf possesses such a soul that "came into this world to receive a rectification". A human soul may occasionally be exiled into lower inanimate, vegetative or animal creations. The most basic component of the soul, the [[nefesh]], must leave at the cessation of blood production. There are four other soul components and different nations of the world possess different forms of souls with different purposes. Each Jewish soul is reincarnated in order to fulfill each of the [[613 Mitzvot|613 Mosaic commandments]] that elevate a particular spark of holiness associated with each commandment. Once all the Sparks are redeemed to their spiritual source, the [[Mashiach|Messianic Era]] begins. Non-Jewish observance of the [[7 Laws of Noah]] assists the Jewish people, though Biblical adversaries of Israel reincarnate to oppose.

Among the many rabbis who accepted reincarnation are Kabbalists like [[Nahmanides]] (the Ramban) and Rabbenu [[Bahya ben Asher]], [[Levi ibn Habib]] (the Ralbah), [[Shelomoh Alkabez]], [[Moses Cordovero]], [[Moses Chaim Luzzatto]]; early Hasidic masters such as the [[Baal Shem Tov]], [[Schneur Zalman of Liadi]] and [[Nachman of Breslov]], as well as virtually all later Hasidic masters; contemporary Hasidic teachers such as DovBer Pinson, [[Moshe Weinberger]] and [[Joel Landau (rabbi)|Joel Landau]]; and key Mitnagdic leaders, such as the [[Vilna Gaon]] and [[Chaim Volozhin]] and their school, as well as Rabbi [[Shalom Sharabi]] (known at the RaShaSH), the [[Ben Ish Chai]] of Baghdad, and the [[Baba Sali]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://limmudbayarea2016.sched.com/event/7YDY/judaism-and-reincarnation|title=Limmud Bay Area 2016: Judaism and Reincarnation|website=limmudbayarea2016.sched.com|access-date=22 February 2017}}</ref> Rabbis who have rejected the idea include [[Saadia Gaon]], [[David Kimhi]], [[Hasdai Crescas]], [[Joseph Albo]], [[Abraham ibn Daud]], [[Leon de Modena]], [[Solomon ben Aderet]], [[Maimonides]] and [[Asher ben Jehiel]]. Among the [[Geonim]], [[Hai Gaon]] argued in favour of ''gilgulim''.

===Inuit===
In the Western Hemisphere, belief in reincarnation is most prevalent in the now heavily [[Christianity|Christian]] [[Polar region|Polar North]] (now mainly parts of [[Greenland]] and [[Nunavut]]).<ref name="Amerindian Rebirth">{{cite book|title=Amerindian Rebirth: Reincarnation Belief Among North American Indians and Inuit|year=1994|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-0-8020-7703-5|editor=Antonia Mills and Richard Slobodin}}</ref> The concept of reincarnation is enshrined in the [[Inuit languages]],<ref>{{cite web|last=Rink|first=Henry|title=Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/inu/tte/index.htm|work=adapted by Weimer, Christopher, M.|access-date=1 December 2011}}</ref> and in many [[Inuit culture]]s it is traditional to name a newborn child after a recently deceased person under the belief that the child is the namesake reincarnated.<ref name="Amerindian Rebirth"/>

===Ho-Chunk===
Reincarnation is an intrinsic part of some [[Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands|Northeastern Native American]] traditions.<ref name="Amerindian Rebirth"/> The following is a story of human-to-human reincarnation as told by Thunder Cloud, a [[Ho-Chunk|Winnebago (Ho-Chunk)]] [[Shamanism|shaman]]. Here Thunder Cloud talks about his two previous lives and how he died and came back again to this his third lifetime. He describes his time between lives, when he was "blessed" by Earth Maker and all the abiding spirits and given special powers, including the ability to heal the sick.

Thunder Cloud's account of his two reincarnations:
{{bquote|I ''(my ghost)'' was taken to the place where the sun sets ''(the west)''. ... While at that place, I thought I would come back to earth again, and the old man with whom I was staying said to me, "My son, did you not speak about wanting to go to the earth again?" I had, as a matter of fact, only thought of it, yet he knew what I wanted. Then he said to me, "You can go, but you must ask the chief first." Then I went and told the chief of the village of my desire, and he said to me, "You may go and obtain your revenge upon the people who killed your relatives and you." Then I was brought down to earth. ... There I lived until I died of old age. ... As I was lying [in my grave], someone said to me, "Come, let us go away." So then we went toward the setting of the sun. There we came to a village where we met all the dead. ... From that place I came to this earth again for the third time, and here I am.|author=Radin (1923)<ref name=Jefferson2008 >{{Cite book |last=Jefferson |first=Warren |year=2008 |title=Reincarnation beliefs of North American Indians: soul journeys, metamorphoses, and near-death experiences |publisher=Native Voices |isbn=978-1-57067-212-5 |oclc=272306114 }}</ref>|title=|source=}}

===Sikhism===
Founded in the 15th century, [[Sikhism]]'s founder [[Guru Nanak]] had a choice between the cyclical reincarnation concept of ancient Indian religions and the linear concept of Islam, he chose the cyclical concept of time.<ref name=colesambhi13>{{cite book|author1=W.O. Cole |author2=Piara Singh Sambhi |title=Sikhism and Christianity: A Comparative Study  |year=2016|publisher=Springer |isbn= 978-1-349-23049-5 |pages= 13–14}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author= Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair|title= Sikhism: A Guide for the Perplexed  |year=2013|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-1-4411-5366-1 |page=176 }}</ref> Sikhism teaches reincarnation theory similar to those in Hinduism, but with some differences from its traditional doctrines.<ref name="Mandair2013p145"/> Sikh rebirth theories about the nature of existence are similar to ideas that developed during the devotional [[Bhakti movement]] particularly within some [[Vaishnavism|Vaishnava traditions]], which define liberation as a state of union with God attained through the grace of God.<ref>{{cite book|author1=John Gordon Melton|author2=Martin Baumann|title=Religions of the world: a comprehensive encyclopedia of beliefs and practices|volume=2|year=2002|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-57607-223-3|page=632}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Eric J. Lott|title=Vision, Tradition, Interpretation: Theology, Religion, and the Study of Religion |year=1988|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-009761-0|pages=49–53}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last =Flood | first =Gavin | year =1996 | title =An introduction to Hinduism | publisher =Cambridge University Press| isbn= 978-0-521-43878-0 | url= https://archive.org/details/introductiontohi0000floo | url-access =registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/introductiontohi0000floo/page/137 137]}}</ref>

The doctrines of Sikhism teach that the soul exists, and is passed from one body to another in endless cycles of [[Saṃsāra]], until liberation from the death and rebirth cycle. Each birth begins with karma (''[[Karma#Sikhism|karam]]''), and these actions leave a karmic signature (''karni'') on one's soul which influences future rebirths, but it is [[God in Sikhism|God]] whose grace that liberates from the death and rebirth cycle.<ref name="Mandair2013p145"/> The way out of the reincarnation cycle, asserts Sikhism, is to live an ethical life, devote oneself to God and constantly remember God's name.<ref name="Mandair2013p145">{{cite book|author=Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair |title=Sikhism: A Guide for the Perplexed |year=2013|publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-1-4411-0231-7 |pages=145–147 }}</ref> The precepts of Sikhism encourage the [[bhakti]] of One Lord for ''[[Moksha|mukti]]'' (liberation from the death and rebirth cycle).<ref name="Mandair2013p145"/><ref>{{cite book|author=H. S. Singha |title=The Encyclopedia of Sikhism  |year=2000|publisher=Hemkunt Press|isbn=978-81-7010-301-1 |pages=68, 80}}</ref>

===Yoruba===
{{See also|Yoruba religion}}

The Yoruba religion teaches that [[Olódùmarè|Olodumare]], the Supreme Being and divine Creator who rules over His Creation, created ''eniyan'', or humanity, to achieve balance between heaven and earth and bring about ''Ipo Rere'', or the Good Condition.<ref name="yoruba_obafemi_re">{{cite web |last1=O |first1=Obafemi |title=Reincarnation |url=https://www.obafemio.com/reincarnation.html |website=ObafemiO.com |access-date=30 August 2023}}</ref> To cause achievement of the Good Condition, humanity reincarnates.<ref name="yoruba_obafemi">{{cite web |last1=O |first1=Obafemi |title=ObafemiO |url=https://www.obafemio.com/ |website=ObafemiO.com |access-date=30 August 2023}}</ref> Once achieved, Ipo Rere provides the ultimate state of supreme existence with Olodumare, a goal which elevates reincarnation to a key position in the Yoruba religion.<ref name="yoruba_learnreligions">{{cite web |title=Yoruba Religion: History and Beliefs |url=https://www.learnreligions.com/yoruba-religion-4777660 |website=LearnReligions |access-date=30 August 2023 }}</ref>

''Atunwaye''<ref name="yoruba_pulse">{{cite web |last1=Dunmade |first1=Oluwatumininu |title=The concept of reincarnation in Igbo and Yoruba culture |url=https://www.pulse.ng/lifestyle/food-travel/the-concept-of-reincarnation-in-igbo-and-yoruba-culture/rdxdkw0 |website=Pulse Nigeria |access-date=30 August 2023 |language=en |date=20 September 2022}}</ref> (also called ''atunwa''<ref name="yoruba_obafemi_re"/>) is the Yoruba term for reincarnation. [[Predestination (disambiguation)|Predestination]] is a foundational component of ''atunwaye''. Just prior to incarnation, a person first chooses their ''Ayanmo'' (destiny) before also choosing their ''Akunyelan'' (lot) in the presence of Olodumare and [[Ọrunmila|Orunmila]] with Olodumare's approval.<ref name="yoruba_dopamu">{{cite journal |last1=Dopamu |first1=Abiola |title=Predestination, destiny and faith in Yorubaland: Any meeting point? |journal=Global Journal of Humanities |date=2008 |volume=7 |issue=1&2 |pages=37–39 |url=https://www.ajol.info/index.php/gjh/article/view/79372 |access-date=30 August 2023 |ref=yoruba_dopamu |language=en |issn=1596-6232}}</ref> By ''atunwaye'', a person may incarnate only in a human being and may choose to reincarnate in either sex, regardless of choice in the prior incarnation.<ref name="yoruba_learnreligions"/>

====Ipadawaye====

The most common, widespread Yoruba reincarnation belief is ''ipadawaye'', meaning "the ancestor's rebirth".<ref name="yoruba_pulse"/> According to this belief, the reincarnating person will reincarnate along their familial lineage.<ref name="yoruba_obafemi"/><ref name="yoruba_learnreligions"/><ref name="yoruba_akinola">{{cite web |last1=Akinola |first1=Temilorun |title=From Life to Death: Death and Dying Beliefs of the Yoruba |url=https://www.processjmus.org/temilorun-akinola-from-life-to-death |website=Process |access-date=30 August 2023 |archive-date=30 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830082941/https://www.processjmus.org/temilorun-akinola-from-life-to-death |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="yoruba_cambridge">{{cite journal |last1=Olaleye-Oruene |first1=Taiwo O. |title=The Yoruba's Cultural Perspective of Death with Special Reference to Twins |journal=Twin Research and Human Genetics |date=June 2002 |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=154–155 |doi=10.1375/136905202320227790|pmid=12184881 |s2cid=5982761 |doi-access=free }}</ref> When a person dies, they go to ''orun'' (heaven) and will live with the ancestors in either ''orunrere'' (good heaven) or ''orunapaadi'' (bad heaven). Reincarnation is believed to be a gift bestowed on ancestors who lived well and experienced a "good" death. Only ancestors living in ''orunrere'' may return as grandchildren, reincarnating out of their love for the family or the world. Children may be given names to indicate which ancestor is believed to have returned, such as Babatide ("father has come"), Babatunde ("father has come again"), and Yetunde ("mother has come again").<ref name="yoruba_pulse"/><ref name="yoruba_akinola"/>

A "bad" death (which includes deaths of children, cruel, or childless people and deaths by punishments from the gods, accidents, suicides, and gruesome murders) is generally believed to prevent the deceased from joining the ancestors and reincarnating again,<ref name="prothero">{{cite book |last1=Prothero |first1=Stephen R. |title=God is not one: the eight rival religions that run the world |date=2011 |publisher=HarperOne |location=New York, NY |isbn=978-0-06-157128-2 }}</ref> though some practitioners also believe a person experiencing a "bad" death will be reborn much later into conditions of poverty.<ref name="yoruba_obafemi_re"/>

====Abiku====

Another Yoruba reincarnation belief is ''[[abiku]]'', meaning "born to die"<ref name="yoruba_obafemi_re"/><ref name="yoruba_pulse"/><ref name="mobolade_abiku">{{cite journal|jstor=3334754|title=The Concept of Abiku|last=Mobolade|first=Timothy|journal=African Arts |date=September 1, 1973|volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=62–64 |publisher=UCLA James S. Coleman African Studies Center|doi=10.2307/3334754 }}</ref>
According to Yoruba custom, an abiku is a reincarnating child who repeatedly experiences death and rebirth with the same mother in a vicious cycle. Because childlessness is considered a curse in Yoruba culture,<ref name="mobolade_abiku"/> parents with an abiku child will always attempt to help the abiku child by preventing their death. However, abiku are believed to possess a power to ensure their eventual death, so rendering assistance is often a frustrating endeavor causing significant pain to the parents. This pain is believed to bring happiness to the abiku.<ref name="mobolade_abiku"/>

Abiku are believed to be a "species of spirit" thought to live apart from people in, for example, secluded parts of villages, jungles, and footpaths. Modern belief in abiku has significantly waned among urban populations, with the decline attributed to improved hygiene and medical care reducing infant mortality rates.<ref name="mobolade_abiku"/>

====Akudaaya====

''Akudaaya'', meaning "born to die and reappear"<ref name="yoruba_pulse"/> (also called ''akuda''<ref name=orisa_akudaaya>{{cite web |author=AJE |title=AKUDAAYA (Meaning and Explanation) |url=https://www.orisa.com.ng/2023/06/akudaaya-meaning-and-explanation.html |website=orisa.com.ng |date=23 June 2023 |access-date=30 November 2023}}</ref>), is a Yoruba reincarnation belief of "a person that is dead[] but has not gone to heaven".<ref name=orishada_akudaaya>{{cite web |last1=Aworeni |first1=Babalawo |title=The Araba Agbaya: The Akudaaya |url=https://orishada.com/wordpress/?p=365 |website=orishada.com |access-date=30 November 2023}}</ref> Akudaaya is based on the belief that, if a recently-deceased person's destiny in that life remained unfulfilled, the deceased cannot join the ancestors and therefore must roam the world.<ref name=orisa_akudaaya/> Following death, an akudaaya returns to their previous existence by reappearing in the same physical form. However, the new existence will be lived in a different physical location from the first, and the akudaaya will not be recognized by a still-living relative, should they happen to meet. The akudaaya lives their new existence working to fulfill their destiny from the previous life. 

The concept of akudaaya is the subject of ''Akudaaya (The Wraith)'', a 2023 Nigerian drama film in the Yoruba language.<ref name=akudaaya_movie_1>{{cite web |last1=Irabor |first1=Joan |title="Akudaaya" is Bringing Back the Chills |url=https://thenollywoodreporter.com/film/akudaaya-is-bringing-back-the-chills/ |website=thenollywoodreporter.com |access-date=30 November 2023}}</ref> The film is said to center on a deceased son who "has begun living life as a spirit in another state and has fallen in love".<ref name=akudaaya_movie_2>{{cite web |last1=Irabor |first1=Joan |title="Akudaaya" Dramatizes The Dilemma Of A Man Caught Between Worlds  |url=https://thenollywoodreporter.com/film/akudaaya-dramatizes-the-dilemma-of-a-man-caught-between-worlds/ |website=thenollywoodreporter.com |access-date=30 November 2023}}</ref>

===New religious and spiritual movements===
{{Paranormal|state=collapsed}}

====Spiritism====
[[File:Tombe Allan Kardec.JPG|thumb|upright|Tomb of [[Allan Kardec]], founder of spiritism. The inscription says in French "To be born, die, again be reborn, and so progress unceasingly, such is the law".]]
[[Kardecist spiritism|Spiritism]], a [[Spiritualism (movement)|spiritualist]] philosophy codified in the 19th century by the French educator [[Allan Kardec]], teaches reincarnation or rebirth into human life after death. According to this doctrine, free will and cause and effect are the corollaries of reincarnation, and reincarnation provides a mechanism for a person's spiritual evolution in successive lives.<ref name="Hess2010">{{cite book |author=David J. Hess |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oGxsfV-lTtEC&pg=PA16 |title=Spirits and Scientists: Ideology, Spiritism and Brazilian Culture |publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-271-04080-6 |pages=16–}}</ref>

====Theosophy====
{{See also|Theosophy#Reincarnation and karma}}
The [[Theosophical Society]] draws much of its inspiration from India.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Theosophical Society {{!}} Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/philosophy-and-religion/other-religious-beliefs-and-general-terms/miscellaneous-religion/theosophical-society |access-date=2023-12-09 |website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref> In the Theosophical world-view reincarnation is the vast rhythmic process by which the soul, the part of a person which belongs to the formless non-material and timeless worlds, unfolds its spiritual powers in the world and comes to know itself.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Chajes |first=Julie |title=Reincarnation in H.P. Blavatsky's The Secret Doctrine |year=2017 |pages=66–90}}</ref> It descends from sublime, free, spiritual realms and gathers experience through its effort to express itself in the world. Afterwards there is a withdrawal from the physical plane to successively higher levels of reality, in death, a purification and assimilation of the past life. Having cast off all instruments of personal experience it stands again in its spiritual and formless nature, ready to begin its next rhythmic manifestation, every lifetime bringing it closer to complete self-knowledge and self-expression.<ref name=":0" /> However, it may attract old mental, emotional, and energetic ''karma'' patterns to form the new personality.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Campbell |first=Bruce F. |title=Ancient Wisdom Revived: A History of the Theosophical Movement |publisher=Berkeley: University of California Press |year=1980 |isbn=978-0520039681}}</ref>

====Anthroposophy====
[[Anthroposophy]] describes reincarnation from the point of view of Western philosophy and culture. The ego is believed to transmute transient soul experiences into universals that form the basis for an individuality that can endure after death. These universals include ideas, which are intersubjective and thus transcend the purely personal (spiritual consciousness), intentionally formed human character (spiritual life), and becoming a fully conscious human being (spiritual humanity). [[Rudolf Steiner]] described both the general principles he believed to be operative in reincarnation, such as that one's will activity in one life forms the basis for the thinking of the next,<ref>See e.g. ''Reincarnation and Karma'' by Steiner</ref> and a number of successive lives of various individualities.<ref>Steiner, ''Karmic Relationships'', volumes 1–6</ref>

{{blockquote|Similarly, other famous people's life stories are not primarily the result of genes, upbringing or biographical vicissitudes. Steiner relates that a large estate in north-eastern France was held during the early Middle Ages by a martial feudal lord. During a military campaign, this estate was captured by a rival. The previous owner had no means of retaliating, and was forced to see his property lost to an enemy. He was filled with a smoldering resentment towards the propertied classes, not only for the remainder of his life in the Middle Ages, but also in a much later incarnation—as Karl Marx. His rival was reborn as Friedrich Engels.<ref name="Hammer2003">{{cite book|first=Olav|last=Hammer|title=Claiming Knowledge: Strategies of Epistemology from Theosophy to the New Age|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EZYsPQgBNioC&pg=PA495|year=2003|publisher=Brill|isbn=90-04-13638-X|page=495}}</ref>|[[Olav Hammer]]|Coda. On Belief and Evidence}}

====Modern astrology====
Inspired by [[Helena Blavatsky]]'s major works, including ''[[Isis Unveiled]]'' and ''[[The Secret Doctrine]]'', [[astrology|astrologers]] in the early twentieth-century integrated the concepts of [[karma]] and reincarnation into the practice of [[Western astrology]]. Notable astrologers who advanced this development included [[Alan Leo]], Charles E. O. Carter, [[Marc Edmund Jones]], and [[Dane Rudhyar]]. A new synthesis of East and West resulted as Hindu and Buddhist concepts of reincarnation were fused with Western astrology's deep roots in [[Hermeticism]] and [[Neoplatonism]]. In the case of Rudhyar, this synthesis was enhanced with the addition of [[Carl Jung|Jungian]] [[depth psychology]].<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Jutta |last1=Woods |title=The Theosophical Heritage in Modern Astrology |journal=The Mountain Astrologer |date=2013 }}</ref> This dynamic integration of astrology, reincarnation and depth psychology has continued into the modern era with the work of astrologers [[Steven Forrest (astrologer)|Steven Forrest]] and Jeffrey Wolf Green. Their respective schools of Evolutionary Astrology are based on "an acceptance of the fact that human beings incarnate in a succession of lifetimes".<ref>{{cite web |author=Steven Forrest and Jeffrey Wolf Green |title=About Evolutionary Astrology |url=http://www.forrestastrology.com/about-us/about-evolutionary-astrology |access-date=22 November 2014}}</ref>

====Scientology====
{{See also|Scientology beliefs and practices}}

Past reincarnation, usually termed '''past lives''', is a key part of the principles and practices of the [[Church of Scientology]]. Scientologists believe that the human individual is actually a ''[[thetan]]'', an immortal spiritual entity, that has fallen into a degraded state as a result of past-life experiences. Scientology [[Auditing (Scientology)|auditing]] is intended to free the person of these past-life traumas and recover past-life memory, leading to a higher state of spiritual awareness.

This idea is echoed in their highest fraternal religious order, [[Sea Org]], whose motto is "''Revenimus''" ('We Come Back'), and whose members sign a "[[Billion year contract|billion-year contract]]" as a sign of commitment to that ideal. [[L. Ron Hubbard]], the founder of Scientology, does not use the word "reincarnation" to describe its beliefs, noting that: "The common definition of reincarnation has been altered from its original meaning. The word has come to mean 'to be born again in different life forms' whereas its actual definition is 'to be born again into the flesh of another body.' Scientology ascribes to this latter, original definition of reincarnation."<ref>{{cite web |title=Scientology Church & Religion – What is Scientology? |url=http://www.scientology.org/html/opencms/cos/scientology/en_US/news-media/faq/pg016.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060613231607/http://www.scientology.org/html/opencms/cos/scientology/en_US/news-media/faq/pg016.html |archive-date=13 June 2006 |work=Scientology}}</ref>

The first writings in Scientology regarding past lives date from around 1951 and slightly earlier. In 1960, Hubbard published a book on past lives entitled ''[[Have You Lived Before This Life]]''. In 1968 he wrote ''[[Bibliography of Scientology#Mission Into Time|Mission Into Time]]'', a report on a five-week sailing expedition to Sardinia, Sicily and Carthage to see if specific evidence could be found to substantiate L. Ron Hubbard's recall of incidents in his own past, centuries ago.

====Wicca====
[[Wicca]] is a [[neo-pagan]] religion focused on nature, guided by the philosophy of [[Wiccan Rede]] that advocates the tenets "Harm None, Do As Ye Will". Wiccans believe in a form of karmic return where one's deeds are returned, either in the current life or in another life, threefold or multiple times in order to teach one lessons (the [[Threefold law|Threefold Law]]). Reincarnation is therefore an accepted part of the Wiccan faith.<ref>Encyclopedia of Wicca and Witchcraft, Raven Grimassi</ref>{{full citation needed|date=December 2016}} Wiccans also believe that death and afterlife are important experiences for the soul to transform and prepare for future lifetimes.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}}